Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!ukc!its63b!hwcs!zen!vic
From: vic@zen.UUCP (Victor Gavin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: A suggestion: .... == ../../..
Message-ID: <1236@zen.UUCP>
Date: 29 Apr 88 09:37:46 GMT
References: <75@vertical.oz> <4221@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> <368@inta1.UUCP> <1083@mcgill-vision.UUCP>
Reply-To: vic@zen.UUCP (Victor Gavin)
Organization: Zengrange Limited, Leeds, England
Lines: 32

In article <1083@mcgill-vision.UUCP> mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes:
>In article <368@inta1.UUCP>, tim@introl.uucp (Tim Chase) writes:
>> Maybe now that knowledge of "." and ".." is both in the file system
>> and the kernel, they ought to be removed from the file system.
>
>Yes!  Unfortunately, the information currently associated with .. must
>reside on disk somewhere, though it needn't be a regular directory
>entry.

Well HP on their series 500 (RIP) didn't use a normal file structure.

They used a format that they had been using for many years: SDF (Structured
Directory Format). This used entries in the inode for the current directory
and parent directory.

We used several of these beasties over many years. We ported many public domain
utilities/games/programs. In that time I do not remember any problems caused
by this difference.

HP fixed possible problems wrt `.' and `..' by treating them specially in the
kernel so that the calls ``did what was expected''.

Only my uninformed opinion.
				vic

ps Why do you have to be super-user to link directories?

--
Victor Gavin						Zengrange Limited
vic@zen.co.uk						Greenfield Road
..!mcvax!ukc!zen.co.uk!vic				Leeds LS9 8DB
+44 532 489048						England